Device for marking the ears of animals.



No. 682,257. Patented Sept. m, I901. J. mm, in. DEVICE FOR MARKING THE EARS 0F ANIMALS.

(Application filed. may 20. 1901.)

(No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OTTTCE.

JACOB I-IINZ,'JR., OF OANASTOTA, SOUTH DAKOTA.

DEVICE FOR MARKING THE EARS OF ANIMALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 682,257, dated September 10, 1901.

Application filed May 20, 1901.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB HINZ, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Canastota, in the county of McCook and State of South Dakota, have invented a new and useful Device for Marking the Ears of Animals, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improved device for marking the ears of animals, as cattle, sheep, and hogs; and it consists in the peculiar construction and combination of devices hereinafter fully set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of an ear-marking device constructed in accordance with myinvention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, partly in section. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional View of the same, .taken on a plane indicated by the line a a of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view taken on a plane indicated by the line b b of Fig. 3.

My improved marking device comprises a lowerjaw 1, on which is a counter-die 2, an upper jaw 3, hinged to the lower jaw, and a die 4, carried by said upper jaw.

The lower jaw 1 is preferably made of wood, but may be made of any other suitable material, and is provided at one end with a handle 5, by which it may be readily grasped. The said jaw 1 is broadened at the end opposite the handle, as shown, and'the counter-die 2, which is preferably made of leather, but may be made of any other suitable material, is placed and secured on the upper side of the said broadened portion of said jaw.

The upper jaw 3 is made of a plurality of metal strips 6, three of such strips being employed in the form of my invention here shown. The said metal"strips are secured together throughout nearly the entire length thereof by a series of rivets 7 or other suit able devices, and the said strips at one end of the said jaw 3 are diverged, as at S, the offset diverging portions of the outer strips bearing on opposite sides of the lower jaw 1 and the central strip having its corresponding end fitted in a slot or opening 9 in said jaw 1. A bolt 10 passes through the said jaw l and through alined openings in theends of the strips '6 and forms the pivotal connection between the jaws. It will be understood from the foregoing and by reference to the draw- Serial No. 61,178. (No model.)

ings that the diverging ends of the outer strips of jaw 3 form braces for said jaw, thereby greatly strengthening the same and securing it against lateral movement on the pivotal bolt 10. The free end of the upper jaw 3 is provided with a handle 11.

The die 4 may form a letter of the alphabet, a number, or an arbitrary symbol, is preferably made of steel, with a sharpened cutting edge 12 and a clearance-opening 1-3, and is provided with a shank 14. The said shank is angular in cross-section, is notched on one side, as at 15, and is provided with a stud or pin 16, which projects therefrom. A bolt 17 secures the shank detachably to the jaw 3 and is provided with a head 18, which is adapted to the shape of that portion of the shank which it engages, as shown in Fig. 4. The notch 15 in the shank is engaged by the head of the bolt, as shown in Fig. 3, and the stud 16 of the shank engages an opening 19 in the jaw 3. By this means the die is firmly attached to the upper jaw and yet adapted to be readily removed therefrom and replaced by another die. Any suitable number of the dies may be used, and in practice I provide a die representing each letter of the alphabet and each of the numerals.

The operation of my invention will be readily understood. The ear of the animal to be marked is placed on the counter-die 2 and the jaw 3 closed toward the jaw 1, thereby causing the die to cut through the ear and mark the same. An animal thus marked may be readily distinguished by its owner, and my improved marking device, while extremely cheap and simple, will be found of great utility and value by owners of live stock.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a lower jaw having a counterdie, an upper jaw hinged to said lower jaw, a die having a shank provided with a notch in one side, a bolt having a hooked head to engage said shank and secure said die to said upper jaw, and a pin 16 projecting from one side of said die-shank and entering an opening in said upper jaw, substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, the

combination of the lower jaw broadened at In testimony that I claim the foregoing as one end, the upper jaw formed of a plurality my own I have hereto affixed my signature in 10 of metal strips secured together and divergthe presence of two witnesses.

ing from each other at one end, said diverg- 5 ing ends of said strips being hinged or piv- JACOB HINZ oted to the broadened end of the lower jaw, WVitnesses: a die and means to secure the same to said F. A. DUDLEY, upper jaw, substantially as described. E. D. SOHLUETER. 

